What can we DO? The reps and senators for whom I can vote are doing what I want. I have no voting power over the other ‘politicians’ who are killing us. How can I convince/fire/knock heads together for the OTHER idiots? Is there a way to send a bulk email to Congress and the Senate? Maybe if enough people told them EXACTLY what they thought of them, it might work?

I vote for giving out a huge sigh that their incompetence and political fights kept them from coming up with more boneheaded solutions. This committee was unconstitutional and lacked the voice of the people by the people. Now if they can actually issue the cuts that were constitutionally voted on if these idiots (thankfully) failed maybe there is hope.

From Nostromo by Joseph Conrad: “Authoritative by temperament and the long habit of command, Captain Mitchell was no democrat. He even went so far as to profess a contempt for parliamentarism itself.’His Excellency Don Vincente Ribiera,’ he used to say, ‘whom I and that fellow of mine, Nostromo, had the honour, sir, and the pleasure of saving from a cruel death, deferred too much to his Congress. It was a mistake—a distinct mistake, sir.'”

As much as your ideas my appeal to some, they are not possible or reasonable.

1. The Super Committee dies after the magic day where they are supposed to have reached agreement. I doubt this idea will be tried again in this form.

2. The Committe had virtually no chance of success. The Grover Norquist Party (Republican) could never agree with increasing taxes, especially on the 1%. The Democrats could ner agree to cutting entitlements and safety net programs without a similar
increase in income, especially from the 1%.

3. The 2006 Spending level does not satisy the problem of what to cut. Right now the Republicans are backing away fom agreed upon cuts to the military if the Super Committee failed.

The closest to something like the Super Committe working was the various base closure commissions of the previous two decades. 8 non Senators or Congressmen were appointed by the President with 2 each being nominated by the leaders of both Houses from each party. On the whole, these were experts who did not have partisan obligations. That independance gave individual legislators cover if a base in their district or state was closed.

An utter failure was George Bush’s Social Security Commission which he appointed without involving Democrats in the selection of members and which almost unanimously contained people who agreed with him. It had 0 chance and was supported only by Republicans and a few Blue Dog Democrats.

That said, the issue as I stated it looked down upon both parties, not just one or the other. There could have been many solutions. Heck, the Simpson Bowles plan would have worked, but Pres Obama ignored it after it came out. I have no idea why he did so, unless it did not fit into some desire of his not to fix the economy.

You say the committee had no chance for success. Then why create such a committee in the first place? Why play such ideological games, continually kicking the bucket down the road, unless these people have an ideological death wish for our country? If our nation fails, Pres Bush, Pres Obama and the leaders of Congress on both sides of the aisle should be taken to task for crimes against the American people. The crime? Perhaps treason for destroying the nation? If we were to act in such a way, the IRS would have tossed us in debtor’s prison for decades. Just ask Bernie Madoff about that.

You can’t fault the politicians too much, they are just doing what the public demands. They are elected representatives after all, and cannot depart too far from the preferences of those that elected them without being shown the door.

What percentage of the population is willing and prepared to balance the budget? Twenty percent? Thirty percent? Until that number rises to sixty percent, we will not have a balanced budget.

There are a number of problems that make it very hard for agreements to be reached in Congress today that have very little to do with the character of the people involved.

1. Gerrymandering: By creating districts where only one party can win, the real races for offices are in the primaries. In those districts voters know that the more extreme candidates will win the general, so the need to appeal to the center is not as important.

2. The rise of decline to state voters has left the parties with the more extreme members. Thus you will get more extreme voters dominating the party vote and choosing people like them. The Republican party seems to have this problem more than Democrats.

3. Newt Gingrich when he took over as Speaker began a policy of Republicans not having anything to do with their Democratic counterparts. This emnity became systematic for both parties.
Where Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan could share a drink and crack Irish jokes with one another, can you see Obama and Boehner do that? Al Gore’s tennis partner was Dan Quayle, can you see Jeff Sessions and Chuck Shumer together on the court?
It is ver difficult to make deals in this situation.

Lots of deals used to be made at social gatherings after the day was over. Now there may be gatherings, but they tend to be all made up of one party or the other. In the 1980’s one famous deal in California to end a budget stalemate was drawn up on a napkin in Frank Fat’s restaurrant. Today parties speak to one another through press releases or sound bites, not over canapes and Brie.

4. Tuesday-Thursday Club. The game of politics has changed. Members of the House and Senate have to be back home with their constituents a lot more than in the past. Many are only in Washington three days a week. Jeremiah Denton, a war hero and a fundamentalist Christian lost his Senate Seat in great part because he believed he didn’t have to return to Alabama. A lesson not lost on others. It really cuts into the ability of Congress to work together when they are not there.

As an aside a number of legislaors have gotten in trouble for who has given them free flights for travel. One of the reasons for George Murphy losing his Senate seats in California was his porr choice on who to fly with.

5. Money. The cost of campaigns is prohibitive. Big campaign contributors want something for their money. One California legislator once joked, “You can’t buy my vote, but you can rent it.” People in my homestate suffer higher auto insurance costs
than necessary (Lawyers support Democrats and Insurance Companies support Republicans, they each cancel one another and nothing gets done).

Now with corporations being people, the cost of campaigns will explode